Four world championships, two podiums and all the praise for Luka Modric, the world wide-ranging player

It was a Sunday the 18th when Luka modric He gave his first World Cup passes. Since that debut against Japan on June 18, 2006, 16 years and five months have passed and the Croatian continues to command football. Croatia beat Morocco 2-1 in the match for third place in Qatar 2022 and Modric celebrates on the podium, a fitting tribute to an all-rounder.

Croatia achieved third place and remains on the World Cup podium, after second place in Russia 2018. In Qatar 2022 they close the same, among the best in the world and with Luka Modric as their great standard bearer.

At 37 years old, Luka Modric played all 7 games of Qatar 2022, including two overtime -he was traded against Japan at 98 and against Argentina at 81-. In total he played 654 minutes. He failed to score, but his influence is in ordering and proposing the Croatian game. He had 230 line-break attempts, with 185 successful.

But the Luka Modric thing goes beyond the statistics. He is one of those players who does everything on the pitch with his talent and his heart. And he has been doing it for over a decade.

• 4 World Cups
• 19 games
• 2 goals (in 2018)
• 1 ending (2018)
• 1 third place (2022)
• 1 World Ballon d’Or (2018)

Modric’s history

Already in 2008 it was the wish of Barcelona. He shone at Dinamo Zagreb at the age of 22 and several clubs insisted on signing him. But he was not Catalan because Pep Guardiola already had several midfielders. “With Xavi, Iniesta, Touré and Busquets, the option of signing was not contemplated. I consulted Boban, the former Milan and Croatian national team, to give me the opinion of his friend and he told me that he would be a future star of world football, ”said Bojan Krkic father, who worked as a scout for the culé team.

It was Tottenham who signed him for 26 million euros in June 2008, at that time the most expensive purchase for Spurs, who were going to play in the UEFA Cup. Four years later he arrived at Real Madrid at the age of 32 for 35 million euros. In Casa Blanca, the story is well known, with 21 titles. He became the owner of the midfield together with Toni Kroos and Casemiro to lift 5 Champions.

Thus, Luka enters the extra time of his career, with a third place in the World Cup, his last World Cup. A player who broke the Ballon d’Or mold between Messi and Cristiano -he won it in 2018-, and who has shown that not only scorers shine. A 10 with a soul of 5 and a heart of 8, Modric is football itself.

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